Commander USA: Mausoleum!
Thanks everyone for helping to make the launch of this year’s Halloween Countdown such a success! Looking forward to spending the next two months with you guys.
Did some hunting today and finally found that spooky Mountain Dew, so I’ll be able to review that — among other things — next week.
Tonight’s video was suggested by LibraryLeia, and it’s a doozy. Get ready for the Commander USA broadcast of MAUSOLEUM, complete with all of the original TV spots!
If you’ve never seen Mausoleum — which had awesome VHS art, btw — here’s the synopsis from Google: “A man asks a psychiatrist to help his wife, who is cursed to share her body with a demon.”
The movie is super on-point for the season, but the video is worth watching even just for the old commercials. Enjoy!
Atmosfear: The Harbingers!
Dino Drac’s 2019 Halloween Countdown HAS BEGUN!
…which means that Dino Drac After Dark is back in business at full-power!
Some of you are new here. Dino Drac After Dark is the site’s late night clubhouse, black as bats and casual as hell. It’s a place to watch random YouTube videos while chatting with other night owls in the comment sections. Think of it as a getaway from the rest of the internet, and a place where there’s still some tiny spark of life even at 3 in the morning.
Updates happen around midnight. You don’t have to talk about the nightly vids in the comment sections — pretty much everything is fair game, so long as it’s drama-free and within reason! Hope you’ll make After Dark a nightly stop during your Halloween season!
Tonight’s video is a complete rip of the videocassette that came with the Atmosfear: The Harbingers VCR game back in ’95. The cheese factor is through the roof!
This one was suggested by Jason H, who adds: “A necessity if you want to play the game today — which my family and I have done, this year even — or if you just want some random background noise punctuated by an angry man yelling at you repeatedly.”
Consider it an appropriate moodsetter to kick off your season!
And, aw hell, let’s add a SURVEY since this is the first official post of the 2019 Halloween season:
We’ve already had sightings and announcements about all sorts of new Halloween candies, horror movies, spooky toys and more. What’s the ONE THING you’re most looking forward to eating, watching, buying or visiting? Spill it, in the comments!
Pac-Man: Trick or Chomp!
Here’s a neat, breezy watch for a wicked Wednesday night!
From the 1982 Pac-Man cartoon series, here’s Trick or Chomp — which can effectively be considered that show’s Halloween special.
This one was suggested by Arcade Hunters, who adds: “While everyone seems to remember Pac-Man’s Christmas special, most seem to forget his Halloween outing. Trick or Chomp has everything from Pac-Man’s family going trick-or-treating to standard haunted house shenanigans. A must-watch for me from back when the USA Cartoon Express began showing reruns.”
I’m shocked that we’ve never ran this on After Dark before. Actually searched the site three times just to make sure!
Don’t Go To Sleep!
Okay, so most of you won’t be able to make room for this on a Tuesday night, but hopefully you’ll keep it in your pocket for a stormy Sunday!
Suggested by Daviel McKaye, here’s Don’t Go To Sleep, a made-for-TV movie from 1982. I live for creepy old TV movies. Even the ones that aren’t super hot are just such great background noise during the season.
Daviel adds: “There’s something about TV movies from the ’70s and ’80s that really interests me. Their relative obscurity imbues them with a certain mystique, as so many people find themselves trying to remember their favorite late night movies decades later that may have only aired once or twice during their childhood years. There’s a certain endearing quality to them as they often tread the line between cheesy and charming very delicately, or sometimes not at all.
“In this TV movie, Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper star as the parents who move their family to a new house to get a fresh start after the tragic death of their oldest daughter. Soon after they arrive, the youngest daughter starts seeing eerie visions of her dead sister urging her to take revenge on the family she feels wronged her in life. As the body count starts to pile up, the movie keeps you guessing whether the ghost is real or simply a manifestation of the young girl’s fractured psyche… right up until the memorably creepy twist ending.
“I think what draws me in the most is the warm, dreamlike quality of the ghost scenes which often comes across as being strangely at odds with the sinister nature of the apparent apparition.”
Sounds solid to me! Enjoy, now or later!
